In his book,
Our Dance Has Turned to Death, sociologist
Carl Wilson traces the seven steps
of societies in decline. Near the
end, the country reaches Stage Five
where the affection between husbands
and wives is replaced by suspicion
and hostility. Stage Six is marked
by selfish individualism that
fragments society into warring factions.
[
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/decline.html
]

If Mr. Wilson's analysis is correct,
then American society is closer to
anarchy than most people realize.

That process of family and social
disintegration is spurred by the Violence
Against Women Act - VAWA for short
-- the $1 billion-dollar-a-year law
that was passed five years ago at
the behest of the radical feminists.
VAWA comes up for renewal later this
year in Congress.

When you look closely, it becomes
clear that VAWA has an agenda that
reaches far beyond the protection
of women.

VAWA-funded educational programs push
the time-worn storyline of the violent
man and a brutalized woman. But that
stereotype is false. The truth is,
members of the fairer sex are just
as likely to commit domestic violence
as men. [
http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm
]

But once society comes to believe
that members of the male sex are a
menace to women, it becomes easy to
enact laws that strip men of their
Constitutional rights of due process
and equal treatment under the law.

Again, that's where VAWA steps in.

One of the tools promoted by VAWA
is the use of restraining orders.
At first blush, the idea sounds common-sensical:
a woman who is being abused

should be able to get her husband
removed from the house.

But in many states, judges crank out
restraining orders like Confederate
one-dollar bills, not pausing to verify
the woman's claims or even to hear
the man's side of the story.

A 1995 Massachusetts study found that
60,000 restraining orders were issued
each year. In fewer than half of those
cases was there even an allegation
of physical violence. In the other
cases, the woman simply claimed she
felt
afraid, or maybe there had been a
marital spat.
[
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/10/25/restraining_orders/
]

Recently the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court became concerned
that this epidemic of restraining
orders was fraying the fabric of judicial
impartiality. The Court opined that
judges must "resist a culture
of summarily issuing and extending
these orders."

Elaine Epstein, former president of
the Massachusetts Bar Association,
was even more candid: "Restraining
orders are granted to virtually all
who apply. In many [divorce] cases,
allegations of abuse are now used
for tactical advantage."

Tactical advantage? Ms. Epstein was
referring to the fact that while hubby
is barred from the house, the wife
quickly files for a divorce, and cleverly
requests temporary custody of the
kids. That paves the way for near-automatic
award of sole custody once the divorce
is finalized.

So careful about raising your voice,
Pop, or you might be thrown out on
your ear -- and end up losing your
kids for good measure.

Is this beginning to sound like Carl
Wilson's Stage Five of societal dissolution?
In fact, has anyone noticed that Constitutional
protections of due process are being
shredded by this near-hysteria over
domestic violence?

And there's more to the story.

Columnist Phyllis Schlafly recently
probed the financial incentives that
drive our nation's child support system:
"Follow the money," she
warned. "The less time that noncustodial
parents (usually fathers) are permitted
to
be with their children, the more child
support they are required to pay into
the state fund."
[
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/phyllisschlafly/ps20050509.shtml
]

So last month, family advocates in
California set out to challenge these
perverse incentives by introducing
the Shared Parenting Bill. Their aim
was to encourage equal participation
of fathers by granting them joint
custody of their children in the event
of divorce. [
http://cspaonline.org/index.php
]

Besides serving as a regular contributor
to NewsWithViews.com, he has published
in The Washington Times, LewRockwell.com,
RenewAmerica.us, ifeminists.net, Men's
News Daily, eco.freedom.org, The Federal
Observer,
Opinion Editorials, and The Right
Report.

Previously, he served on active duty
in the Army, was a professor of psychology,
and was a citizen-lobbyist in the
US Congress. In his spare time he
admires Norman Rockwell paintings,
collects antiques, and is an avid
soccer fan. He now works as an independent
researcher and consultant.

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